They even supplied a special 'tweezer like' heat sink that had a cup that fit over the insulation and the end of the tweezer clamped around the wire to take away heat and not allow the solder to wick up past the pin. I wish I could find mine!

I tried the little $9 crimpers and they did not work. The red ratcheting crimper from either High Sierra or West Mountain Radio work just fine, at $39 to $50 or get the "real" ones from Anderson at $150.

I have them on all of my stuff. in the shack the truck, the car and in the garage. If you need to make them semi permanent, a small zip tie through the holes will hold them together.

The correct way to assemble them for use with commercial stuff is red right tang top.

Yes I only crimp, using the ratcheting crimpers. I probably have several hundred sets in use, no problems, ever

One could put a miniscule amount of solder on the wire, to wick it would prevent the crimping tool to really get the desired crimp shape and the force might just split the connector . Solder does not compress so well. too much will create a stress point on the wire and it usually breaks at the most inopportune time. High Serra has a U Tube video next to their crimper from the ARRL. Now I watched it for the first time yesterday, He used the 75 amp connectors. It seemed to me he was holding the crimper upside down. I'll have to check out Andersons crimper.

I got two sets of crimping 'pliers' from Radio Shack back when they still had semi-decent tools--black anodized steel with red plastic handles. Those cost about $10 each and were made for any crimp-on type wire terminal. With proper care, they will work on the wing type crimp on powerpole terminals. The only thing you've got to do is to make sure the terminals are straight when you finish, because the crimper will bend them when it's closing down on them.

For the heavier round type powerpole terminal, those crimpers will not work as well. As with anything, you've got to take the time and the proper care to line things up and make sure the crimpers are centered on the terminal. If you don't do that, there isn't a crimping tool in the world that will do the job right.

Glad to hear that you have not had one fail in 40 years, but in my line of work, aircraft electrical systems control and generation, I have seen many a crimp and solder terminals fail, even in automotive applications in those 30 - 35 years. The failures generally break down to two or three issues, incorrect prep of the wiring, too much solder or too little, and improper crimping by using too big a crimper die or one that flatens the terminal.

Too much solder results in wicking of the solder up the wire which does not allow the wire to flex. Improper crimp or too little solder results in a high resistive connection that can over heat.

Which ever method you select - crimp or solder, learn to do it correctly, you should be ok.

The added item is that I use some heavy wall 1" two layer heat shrink tubing (has hot melt glue inside).This strain relieves the wire well well past the solder zone and also protects the back of the connector.

I been using P-poles for 10 years and no failures yet done that way and most are mobile/portableuse but the whole station uses them as I run solar/battery power.

I only solder when I'm working with small wire so the wire doesn't pull out of the back of the shell. It's typically only 18 AWG and smaller that tend to pull out. I don't solder the larger wires at all since the pins have more bite. If you get all three size of pins, 15/30/45 Amp, and select the proper pin for the wire gauge, then almost no soldering is necessary.

When I first started using PP, I hated them. They really are not very good connectors. But, I like the Rigrunners, the flexibility and standardization. I have them on everything now. With the crimp tool, 4 Rigrunners, and all the connectors I've purchased, I have well over $300 invested in just these dumb things, so they're not cheap. However, my bench wiring is clean and neat and moving equipment around is much easier.

I also use Powerpoles for antenna connections with portable / emergency antennas. They come in colors other than just red and black. I use red, black, blue, and yellow for my AE5JU Field Day Antenna at Hamuniverse.com. Snap hooks take the actual stain, with the Powerpoles making the electrical connection.

Copyright 2000-2015 eHam.net, LLC
eHam.net is a community web site for amateur (ham) radio operators around the world.
Contact the site with comments or questions.
WEBMASTER@EHAM.NETSite Privacy Statement